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Medications and Weight
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Medications and Weight
I have tried several different medication combinations to treat my manic-depression.
Like others on these drugs, I
Dear Ms. D. – Unfortunately your experience is very common. Your doc’ was right, a
lot of people get appetite suppression on Topomax and lose weight (we don’t
know yet if that weight loss will "stick"). But I have seen several
people become quite agitated on Topomax. It’s almost like they were given
an antidepressant (causes agitation in quite a few folks with mixed states
of bipolar disorder). There are just a few hints to suggest that Topomax
can have some antidepressant-like properties, as does
Of course I’d suggest sharing your concern with your doc’; but Topomax is one of the few options to treat weight gain that’s used at all routinely (and I’m not aware of anything that’s used even non-routinely that shows much promise – sorry). Of the med’s you are taking, Neurontin is probably the most associated with weight gain. Paxil is also associated, but usually it takes a while and you just started that one; the rest of what you’re taking is not generally a problem. You have a lot of options, but that means giving up what you’ve got, which can be scary and risky. Educate yourself about those options (other mood stabilizers, especially in combinations if routine doses have caused problems for you in the past – combine low doses) and discuss them with your doctor. It’s not impossible to solve the problem you describe, but it’s tricky and takes a lot of tinkering with meds. You’ll hear "diet and exercise" over and over: that’s a hard route but for some people it really does work. For some women in particular it seems not to work, which can be extremely discouraging. Finally, there is always asking yourself the question as to how much it really matters what you weigh, in the big picture of things (I know, tricky territory there too). Mood stabilizers which only extremely rarely are associated with weight gain, in my experience: carbamazepine (Tegretol, Carbatrol) and lamotrigine (Lamictal). Long answer – because it’s an extremely common problem. Dr. Phelps
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